Art of rope making



Oct. 15, 1940.

M. WALTER. JR

ART OF ROPE MAKING Filed Feb. l0, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 m A wN//M///,///////7//.//g

Oct. l5, 1940. M. WALTER. JR

ART OF ROPE MAKING Filed Feb. 10, 1959 5 Sheets-Shea?I 2 INVENTOR I arim/l agli: BY

ATTORNEY Oct. 15, 1940. M. WALTER. JR

ART OF ROPE MAKING Filed Feb. 1o, 1959 5 sheets-sneu 4 wm$w T Y .NNN

INVENTOR /Bydrfll //ffl; J/

am ATTORNEY Oct. l5, 1940. M. WAL-TER, JR

ART 0F ROPE MAKING INVENTOR {zar/101 llfl; fi: www@ ATTORNEY Il l tPatented Oct. 15, 1940 i 2,218,224 ART OF ROPE MAKING Martin Walter,Jr., South Dartmouth, Mass., as-

signor to New Bedfor d Col-dage Co., -New Bedford, Mass., a corporationof Massachusetts l Application February 10, 193,9, Serial No. 255,582 12claims. -(ci. 57.144)

'I'he present invention relates to the art of rope-making, and has forits main object and feature the production of a i'lbrous rope strandprovided with a resilient core capable of taking 5 up sudden jerks orstrains to which the strand, or a rope composed of a number of strands,may

be subjected, to thereby prevent o-r minimize permarient elongation ofthe strand or of the fibrous assemblage of which the core is composed. yl In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown in severalconcrete and preferred forms in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic viewshowing a forming machine embodying the invention;

l Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the novel strand of my invention Withthe cover ,yarn partly removed to expose the core;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of means for pretwisting the brouselements of an assemblage, as one step in my invention;

Figs. 4 to 1l inclusive are diagrammatic views of the relation betweenthe slit of the helix and a pretwisted fiber, Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 10 beinglongitudinal views, and each of Figs. 5, '7, 9 and 11 consisting of aseries of sectional diagrams taken transversely of Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 10.

Fig. 12 is a modication of Fig. 1;

Fig. 13 is a longitudinal sectional View of a strand produced by thedevice of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14- is a: second modication of Fig. 1;

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a rope embodying the strands of myinvention; and

Fig. 16 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale of the formingtube and adjacent quill.

The principle of the invention can most readily be understood byconsidering Figs. 1 and 16 which show the conventional forming machineconsisting of a rotating frame I mounted in suitable bearings 2 and 3,the latter of which is hollow,

said frame carrying a rotating capstan 4 and a take-up reel 5; 6 is theforming tube which is of this forming tube, and

an assemblage of fibrous g5 elements 8, that is to constitute the coreof the strand to be formed, is passed. 9 indicates yarns that are servedon the core to produce one or more layers of covering material.

It will be understood that, in the passage of 0 assemblage 8, fromrotatable container 8a, over the quill, the latter generates saidassemblage,

as a unit, into a. helix H which is pulled oi the quill by the capstan,into the forming tube and through hollow bearing 3 by the action of the5 rotating capstan in the rotating frame. The

helical core thus formed is served with covering yarn as it enters theforming tube, and the strand yIl) so produced after passing over thepulling capstan is wound up on reel 5. Helix H is at first open, theconvolutions being separated by a helical-slot, which eventually, owingto the compression of the forming tube and the cover yarns, is narrowedinto a mere slit.

served in the same direction as the formation of the helix.

which are in contact and are delimited by a subslit I2. In thisinstance, two 15 layers of covering yarn 9 are used.

The brous elements of assemblage 8 can be either slivers or yarn;preferably, slivers are used. In Fig. 3, a method and means that may beused to prepare assemblage 8 are shown. I3 indicates 20 piles of sliversor roving that are fed into a spreader or drawframe I 4 passing betweenroll- I'l, and thence between drafting rolls I8 and guide rolls I9.2li-indicates a rotatable receiving 25 containerl which rotates at apredetermined speed pensated for by the helical core as a unit.

In Figs. 4 to 11 inclusive are shown a series of diagrams showing atypical relation of the helix of the core to the twist of the individualfiber. Figs. 4, 6, 8 and l0 show successive lengths of the corediagrammed longitudinally. Each of Figs. 5, 7, 9 and 11 is a series 'Iheslit is indicated at I2 and the individual ber 50 or yarn at F. Assumingthat fiber F, are studying, occupi-es a position immediately adjacentone side of slit I2, as indicated in the lefthand sectional diagram ofFig. 5, it will be seen that the twist of ber F is not parallel to the66 helix of the core. At the extreme right-hand sectional diagram ofFig. 5, the' helix has made one complete turn but fiber F is now widelyseparated irom the slit. The progression continues during the next turnof the helix as indicated in Figs. 6 and 'l and the fiber is nowapproaching the other side of the slit. This becomes more and morepronounced as we study Figs. 8 and 9, and in the last four sectionaldiagrams at the right-hand end of Fig. 9 the ber has reached the otherside of the slit and now begins a detour around said slit. This detourcontinuesin Figs. 10 and 11 where it will be seen that the fibereventually passes around the bottom of the slit and then down on theother side thereof until it reaches its initial position. It will, ofcourse, be understood that these diagrams are highly idealized so far asthe twist of theilberA is concerned.

Preferably the pretwist of the fibrous elements and the formation of theassemblage into a helix are in the same direction, but it will beunderstood that they may be in opposite directions for obviously, boththe pretwisting and the helical formation may be in either direction.So, likewise, the pitch of the twist and the pitch of the helix may varyin accordance with diiferent requirements.

In Fig. 12 is shown a modification of Fig. 1. The object here is to geta more pronounced pitch of the helix than could be obtained by theaction of the forming machine. Here the assemblage 2| is positively fedby two fiuted rollers 22 from the container, instead of being merelypulled out as in Fig. 1. Quill concavely tapered as before, can beiiuted to better feed the assemblage and is positively driven in thesame direction as the rotating frame (not shown) of the forming machinebut at a greater relative speed so as to produce a helix HI that has avery short pitch. Forming tube 24 is stationary, and the cover yarnshave the sake of simplicity. The core produced by this form of theinvention is shown in Fig. 13, a sectional view, from which it appearsthat the convolutions H2 of the helix are in overlapping relation.

If it is desired to form a helix, the convolutions of which run in theopposite direction from that previously noted and still use the sameforming machine, the expedient shown in Fig. 14 can be resorted to.- Asthere shown, assemblage 25 is drawn from a rotating container 26 andpassed through the hollow bearing 21 of a rotating frame 2B turning inthe opposite direction from that of frame 2S of the forming machine.Mounted in frame 28 is a pair of flutedand positively driven feed rolls30 that advances the assemblage which latter passes out of aneccentrically disposed opening 3| in the frame and is then trained overrotating quill 32, thereby forming said assemblage into a pronouncedhelix H3 that then enters stationary forming tube 33 and is lengthenedor partially unwound by rotating capstan 34 of rotating frame 29. Thestrands produced by-any of these various methods can be laid into a.rope 36 in either direction in any of the different ways known in theart as shown, for example, in Fig. 15 in which l0 lndicates the strands,here three in number.

Likewise, it will be understood that the rope shown as an example inFig. 15 becomes a lessom when laid into a cable.

I claim:

1. In a fibrous rope strand having a core and a covering, a coreconsisting of an assemblage of a covering, a core that as a convolutionsof which are 23 is here longer and may be been omitted forfibrouselements, d core consisting of a single unit having substantially theform of a'helix the convolutions of which are limited by a substantiallyhelical slit.

2. In a fibrous-rope strand having a core and unit is vrelativelyresilient and that consists of an assemblage of iibrous elements, saidelements being less resilient than the core is as a unit, said coreconsisting of a single unit having substantially the forml of a helixthe convolutions of which are in contact and delimited by asubstantially helical slit.

3. In a brous rope strand having a core and a covering, a coreconsisting of an assemblage o! pre-twisted fibrous elements, said coreconsisting of a single unit havingsubstantially the form of a helix theconvolutions of which are in contact and delimited by a substantiallyhelical slit.

4. In a ilbrous rope strand having a core and a covering, a coreconsisting of an assemblage v of fibrous elements, said core consistingoi a single unit having substantially the form of a helix theconvolutions of which are in contact and in overlapping relation anddelimited by a substantially helical slit.

5. In a brous rope strand having a core and a covering, a core that as aunit is relatively resilient and that consists of anassemblage of brouselements, said core consisting of a single unit| having substantiallythe form of a helix the in contact and delimited by a substantiallyhelical slit, said fibrous elements lying twisted in the twist of thefibrous elements and the pitch of the helix of the core being different.

6. A fibrous rope strand having a core and a covering, the coreconsisting of an assemblage of ilbrous elements and consisting ofasingle unit having substantially the form of a helix the separateconvolutions of which are in contact and delimited by a substantiallyhelical slit, and said covering consisting of one or more layers of coreyarn that surround the core in close formation and extendhelically inthe sam'e direction as that of the helix of the core.

'1. The method of making a brous rope strand having a core and wrappingwhich consists in: producing the core from anassemblage of fibrouselements by generating said assemblage as a unit into a` helix theconvolutions of which are in contact and delimited by a substantiallyhelical slit, and serving said core. with cover yarn.

8. The method of making a brous rope strand having a core and wrappingwhich consists in: producing the core from an assemblage of fibrouselements by generating said assemblage as a unit into a helix theconvolutions of which are in contact and delimited by a substantiallyhelical slit, and serving said core with cover yarnlaid helically in theysame direction as that of the helix of the core.

9. The method of making a fibrous rope strand having a core and wrappingwhich consists in:

twisting the iibrous elements of an assemblageof such elements,producing a core from said assemblage of pretwisted fibrous elements bygenerating said assemblage as a unit into a helix the convolutions ofwhich are in contact and delimited by a substantially helical slit, andserving said core with cover yarn.

j 10. The method of making a fibrous rope strand having a core andwrapping which consists in: twisting the fibrous elements voi anassemblage of such elements, producing a core in contact and de thecore, the pitch of v from saidassemblage of pretwisted brous elements bygeneratingsaid assemblage as a unit into a helix the convolutions ofwhich are in contact and delimited by a. substantially helical slit, andserving said core with cover yarn laid helically in the same directionas that of the helix of the core. l

1l. The method of making a brous rope strand having a core and Wrappingwhich consists in: twisting the brous elements of an assemblage of suchelements, producing a core from said assemblage of pretwisted brouselements by generating said assemblage as a unit into a helix theconvolutions of which are in contact and delimited by a substantiallyhelical slit, said convolutions extending in the same direction as thatof the twist of elements of the assemblage, and severing said core withcover yarn.

12. The method of making a brous rope strand having a core and wrappingwhich consists in: twisting the fibrous elements of an assembl'age ofsuch elements, producing a core from said assemblage of pretwistedfibrous elements by generating said assemblage as a unit into a helixthe convolutions of which are in contact and delimited 'by asubstantially helical slit, said convolutions extending in the samedirection as 'that of the twist of elements of the assemblage, andserving said core with cover yarn laid helically in the-same directionas the helix of` the core.

MARTIN WALTER, Jn.

